Tetsuhide Kunimoto's Shonan Galleon (Jpn) (Flightline) was all the rage as the 3-10 chalk facing four other rivals while making his career debut in an 1800-meter newcomers' contest on the turf Sunday at Hakodate. He lived right up to his advance billing, taking command at will before edging effortlessly away while stopping the timer in 1:47.6 over a track rated good-to-firm and establishing a new 2-year-old course record in the process.A ¥210 million (about $1,305,652) purchase as a foal at the 2024 Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) Select Sale on the island of Hokkaido, Shonan Galleon was the subject of a good deal of attention in the lead-up to this first appearance and was bet as if he couldn't lose. The money and hype proved to be warranted.Drawn gate one, Shonan Galleon was just beaten for speed and was settled in mid-field by jockey Katsuma Sameshima as the filly Danon Cube (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn})–purchased as a yearling for nearly $860,000 at last year's Select Sale–showed the way through the opening 800 meters in a reasonable :48.1.Danon Cube, the chief pari-mutuel protagonist at 5-1, opened up a sizable advantage in the hands of the legendary Yutaka Take down the backstraight, but Shonan Galleon was slipped a bit of rein and was poised to strike as the stretch loomed. Given a squeeze by Sameshima with about 200 meters to travel, Shonan Galleon easily gathered up the front-runner and raced clear under hands-and-heels encouragement. The winning margin was 2 1/2 lengths and the final time shaved 0.5 seconds off the previous 2-year-old record established last July.“He has the makings of a star. I want to take good care of him,” said Sameshima, as quoted by Netkeiba on X.Next up for the winner could be the G3 Sapporo Nisai Stakes (1800m) on Sept. 5, per NetKeiba.Shonan Galleon is the third overall winner for his freshman sire (by Tapit) and his second from two starters in Japan, joining the impressive debut winner Demian, himself a $1.7-million Keeneland September yearling. The Feb. 13 foal is the first produce for his dam, Argentina's champion 2-year-old filly of 2022, with Group 1 successes on both dirt and turf.The bay shares interesting pedigree symmetry with Flightline's 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Flight Command, as his dam sire Full Mast is a son of Mizzen Mast, whose exceptional daughter Stonetastic is also by the latter stallion and is the granddam of Flight Command.Tan Gritona's youngest produce are a yearling filly by leading sire Kizuna (Jpn) and a colt by Epiphaneia (Jpn) foaled Apr. 20 of this year. Neither is entered for this year's Select Sale, which is scheduled for July 13 and 14.5th-Hakodate, ¥14,880,000 ($92,211), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800mT, 1:47.6 (new class record), gd/fm.SHONAN GALLEON (JPN) (c, 2, Flightline–Tan Gritona {Arg}, by Full Mast) Sales history: ¥210,000,000 Fl '24 JRHAJUL. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $48,337.O-Tetsuhide Kunimoto; B-Northern Racing; T-Shizuya Kato. The post Flightline Colt Shonan Galleon Sets Class Record On Hakodate Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.